Kundika Upanishad
| Kundika Upanishad | |
|---|---|
A renouncer or sanyasi at a young age | |
| Devanagari | कुण्डिका |
| Linked Veda | Sama Veda |
| Verses | One chapter with 34 verses |
| Philosophy | Vedanta |
The Kundika Upanishad (Sanskrit: कुण्डिका उपनिषत्, IAST: Kuṇḍikā Upaniṣad), also known as Kundikopanishad, is an ancient text and a minor Upanishad of Hinduism. It is one of the 19 Sannyasa Upanishads, and is one of the 16 Upanishads attached to the Sama Veda.
The text is titled Kundika in surviving Telugu language versions, and notably large parts of it are identical to the Laghu-Sannyasa Upanishad versions found in some parts of India.
The Kundika and Laghu-Sannyasa Upanishads discuss when and how someone may renounce, and the answers it gives are different from those found in other Upanishads such as the Jabala Upanishad. The text dedicates most of its verses to the lifestyle of the renouncer, and its broad theme centers around renunciation or spiritual enlightenment. The text mentions ancient cultural and religious Hindu traditions. It describes renunciation as a stage of life where a man lives like a monk yogi, sleeps on sand and near temples, remain calm and kind no matter what others do to him, while pondering on Vedanta and meditating on Brahman through Om. A renouncer, states the Kundika Upanishad, should seek to realize the identity of his soul with the universal soul.